Asby Book Club

“Fear in the Sunlight”
Nicola Upson

Lead: Gwen

Summer, 1936.   The real life crime writer, Josephine Tey, joins her friends in the holiday village of Portmeirion to celebrate her fortieth birthday.   Alfred Hitchcock and his wife, Alma Reville, are there to sign a deal to film Josephine’s novel, “A Shilling for Candles”, and Hitchcock has one or two tricks up his sleeve to keep the holiday party entertained – and expose their deepest fears.

But things get out of hand when one of Hollywood’s leading actresses is brutally slashed to death in a cemetery near the village.  The following day, as fear and suspicion take over in a setting where nothing – and no one – is quite what it seems.  Chief Inspector Archie Penrose becomes increasingly unsatisfied with the way the investigation is ultimately resolved.

Several years later, another horrific murder, again linked to a Hitchcock movie, drives Penrose back to the scene of the original crime to uncover the shocking truth.

‘This is one of the best historical mysteries which shows that in careful hands the use of real life characters can be blended into fictional settings to provide an engrossing read‘.

All welcome – no fees – just come along to listen even if you have not read the book.